National 'Best Hospitals' rankings: Which Bucks County, Montco hospitals made the list?

In the “Best Hospitals” 2023 rankings by U.S. News & World Report released Tuesday, 25 of the 229 hospitals evaluated in Pennsylvania met U.S. News standards and were ranked in the state.

The publication evaluated more than 4,300 hospitals in 21 procedures and conditions. More than 1,900 were rated high performing in at least one area, but none were rated high performing in all areas.

Hospitals were also ranked from 1 to 50 nationally in each of 15 specialties, with hospitals not in the top 50 but still in the top 10% of all rated hospitals receiving a designation of “high performing.”

What are the best hospitals in Bucks County and the Philadelphia region?

Hospitals of the University of Pennsylvania-Penn Presbyterian in Philadelphia took the lead as the No.1 ranked hospital in all of Pennsylvania and in the Philadelphia region. This teaching hospital and general medical and surgical facility also made "Best Hospitals Honor Roll" ranking in 11 adult specialties with two adult specialties and 21 procedures and conditions ranked as high performing.

"High performing" ratings were achieved in leukemia/lymphoma/myeloma, colon cancer surgery, lung cancer surgery, ovarian cancer surgery, prostate cancer surgery, uterine cancer surgery, abdominal aortic aneurysm repair, heart attack, aortic valve surgery, heart bypass surgery, heart failure, transcatheter aortic valve replacement, diabetes, kidney failure, stroke, maternity care (uncomplicated pregnancy), hip fracture, hip replacement, knee replacement, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and pneumonia.

Doylestown Hospital and Jefferson Health-Abington Hospital tied at No. 8 in Philadelphia region and No. 17 in Pennsylvania, making them the highest ranked in Bucks and Montgomery counties, respectively.

Doylestown Hospital was rated high performing for nine adult procedures and conditions. "High performing" ratings were achieved in leukemia/lymphoma/myeloma, colon cancer surgery, heart attack, heart bypass surgery, heart failure, transcatheter aortic valve replacement, stroke, hip replacement, and knee replacement.

Jefferson Health-Abington Hospital was rated high performing in one adult specialty and nine procedures and conditions. "High performing" ratings were achieved in colon cancer surgery, heart failure, hip replacement, knee replacement, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

St. Mary Medical Center in Middletown was ranked No. 12 in Philadelphia and No. 20 in Pennsylvania. It was rated high performing in eight adult procedures and conditions.

"High performing" ratings were achieved in leukemia/lymphoma/myeloma, heart attack, heart bypass surgery, heart failure, diabetes, stroke, knee replacement, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Lower Bucks Hospital in Bristol was not regionally ranked but was rated as high performing in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Grand View Health-Sellersville was not regionally ranked but was rated as high performing in stroke, hip replacement, knee replacement, and pneumonia.

Jefferson Health- Lansdale Hospital in Lansdale was not regionally ranked but was rated as high performing in hip replacement.

St. Luke's Hospital Upper Bucks Campus in Quakertown, however the health system's Bethlehem campus was ranked No. 9 in Pennsylvania with 17 high-performing marks, and Jefferson Bucks Hospital in Falls were not part of the report.

More: Check out the list for Pennsylvania here

What statistics were used in the ratings?

The Best Hospitals ratings evaluate almost every hospital in the U.S. that admits patients in any of 21 common procedures and conditions and 15 specialties.

U.S. News said data came from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' standard analytical file database and from the American Hospital Association and professional organizations.

No veterans or military hospitals were included.

“Claims data for VA and military hospitals are unavailable in Medicare claims data and are largely unavailable. If these data become publicly available, we will consider evaluating them,” U.S. News said. “Claims data from the Medicare database are the most comprehensive source data available.”

What if my hospital is rated average or below average?

About 50% to 70% of the hospitals in each procedure or condition were rated as average.

U.S. News & World Report said some hospitals were rated below average “partly because of low patient volume, not necessarily because of a high number of deaths or other adverse events. No firm conclusion can be reached about an unrated hospital; these hospitals did not treat enough patients to be evaluated thoroughly.”

Based on your health situation, the report said it could make more sense to go to an average hospital closer to you or within your insurance network than a high-performing hospital that is farther away and out-of-network.

“As always, these ratings should be taken as a starting point. All care decisions should be made in conjunction with medical professionals,” the report said.

Debate about the validity of the rankings

This year for the nationally-rated hospitals, U.S. News & World Report changed from ordinal rankings in favor of an “Honor Roll” in no particular order, according to a report in USA TODAY.

The change came after recent user surveys found a growing need to highlight ratings based on specialties, conditions, procedures and region instead of national rankings, "because in most cases patients should consider a provider near where they live," said Ben Harder, U.S. News chief analyst and managing editor.

The hospital rankings emerge amid a national conversation debating the value, transparency and methodology of such rating systems, USA TODAY reported.

In June, the San Francisco city attorney’s office announced it was launching an investigation into U.S. News, alleging bias, questionable methodology and undisclosed financing.

Not long after, the University of Pennsylvania Health System declared it was no longer actively participating in the annual U.S. News & World Report “Best Hospitals” rankings, underscoring the need for greater transparency.

Although U.S. News later announced changes to its methodology in July, emphasizing health equity and outpatient outcomes, University of Pennsylvania Health System CEO Kevin Mahoney was not assuaged.

“Overall, rankings systems are an oversimplified, dated way to measure 21st century health care,” he said in a statement to USA TODAY.

However, hospital rankings are one of the only sources of up-to-date data that patients have to compare hospitals in a comprehensible and transparent way, Michael Millenson, an expert on quality care and patient safety, said in a July USA TODAY interview.

Hospital rankings “are not perfect – sometimes they mislead and we have to ask questions – but it’s the best we have,” he said.

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Doylestown Hospital, Jefferson Abington rank in 'Best Hospital' list